Article 2012

Minnesota's Affordable Homes Program: Evaluating the Effects of a Prison Work Program on Recidivism, Employment and Cost Avoidance

NB
Northcutt Bohmert, Miriam
 DG
Duwe, Grant
Criminal Justice Policy Review
Journal · Vol. 23 · Issue 3 · pp. 327-351
Abstract

The Affordable Homes Program (AHP) is a prison work crew program managed by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (MNDOC). To examine whether AHP has increased postrelease employment, lowered recidivism, and reduced costs to the State of Minnesota, this study uses a retrospective, quasi-experimental design in which propensity score matching was used to control for observable selection bias. The results show that during the 1998-2008 period, AHP (a) built 285 affordable homes, (b) significantly increased offenders' odds of obtaining postrelease employment in the construction field, and (c) produced US$13.1 million in costs avoided. It did not, however, significantly reduce recidivism. © 2012 SAGE Publications.

Keywords

Author Keywords

employment prison recidivism Cost-benefit analysis prison vocational training

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Minnesota Department of Corrections, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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